Jacob Barrhean does his best boy wonder as Robin. SEAN M. HAFFEY, ZUMA24.COM

We survived.

Made it through another year at San Diego Comic-Con International without getting brain-munched by zombies; managed not to get sliced or diced by any of the many light saber-wielding Darth Vaders. And we're grateful to have avoided transformation into Your Little Pony by the herds of little girls and big boys who love those sparkly pink cuties and Comic-Con.

For example: Huge crowds turned out this year to say farewell to the show "Dexter," which is about to wrap up its run on Showtime. Fans also wanted to hear from the allegedly living humans behind AMC's "The Walking Dead" about next season. (For what it's worth, "The Walking Dead" made its usual Comic-Con splash, with a zombie prison and a handful of moldering dead with whom you could pose for uploads on Facebook and Instagram.)

And as ever at Comic-Con, there were hints of what soon will burble in zeitgeist. The BBC's "Dr. Who," celebrating its 50th year, is only going to get bigger. The movie adaptation of the fantasy novel "Ender's Game" is getting a buzz boost, as is "The World's End," the latest from the crew that created cult zombie comedy "Shaun of the Dead."

But that's the just the pop culture stuff that Comic-Con has become. Dig a bit and you can still find traces of Comic-Con's nerdy roots.

You have to go to the panels – the ones held in smaller meeting rooms – and you have to find the ones with topic titles such as "The Witty Women of Steampunk" or "History of Disney Pins" or "Manga Legends You Don't Know But Should..."

So we wandered those panels. We listened to those rooms.

This is what we heard.

•••

At Blizzard Entertainment's new product panel we found Emily Wilder, 19, who spent a year-and-a-half making her costume for this year's Comic-Con, turning herself into an oh-so awesome Blood Elf Warlock from World of Warcraft, Blizzard's insanely popular game.

"It's from a raid," she explained. "This is my favorite armor set of all time from my favorite raid of all time."

Why'd the San Diego student dedicate herself to carving and painting foam armor and embedding blue LED lights?

"It's pure, fannish glory," she said. "It's stuff you can't talk about in the outside world, but here you can just enjoy it."

Earlier, during the "Q" portion of the panel's Q-and-A session, Wilder was one of several fans asking questions of Blizzard execs.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.